Review of the Adult Decision-Making Capacity Law
Changing Minds has written a community submission on the Law Commission’s review of the Adult Decision-Making Capacity Law (Secondary Issues Paper) which was submitted 1 July 2024.
We had a strong response from our wonderful Tāngata Mātau ā-wheako community, and it’s been a privilege to share your Lived Experience perspectives in the Changing Minds submission. Thank you for your trust and generosity!
As we know from our Lived Experience, a number of things can affect a person’s decision-making, including experiences of mental distress. Under the current law, if someone's decision-making has been affected, some of their decisions might have no legal effect, and another person might be appointed to make decisions for them.
Having the right and the support to make decisions about our own lives is crucial, and we’re grateful to everyone who sent feedback through—all of your feedback has been woven into our final submission document, and we could not have written it without you.
The key points of our community submission are:
Lived Experience leadership and advisory input must be effectively engaged not only through the submission process, but throughout the next stages of the review process and onwards into the future
Adult decision-making capacity law needs to uphold human rights and te Tiriti o Waitangi
Tāngata Mātau-a-wheako voices are important, we are disproportionately impacted by decision making law
We experience decisions by us (supported decision-making) and decisions for us (substituted decision-making) as very different things - supporting people to make their own decisions should be the priority of any new decision making law
We want to be able to see if things are improving over time - data should be able to show if substitute decision making is decreasing and if our rights to make our own decisions are being increasingly upheld
Our ability to make decisions can be fluid and varied when experiencing mental distress, and decision making law needs to be able to respond to this
All processes should feel warm and supportive for people and their whānau
If something isn’t right, we need restorative processes that make things better for us and for others in the future
Your contributions to our submission will be considered in the Law Commission’s review, and kept as part of their official records. Our Changing Minds submission may also be published on the Law Commission’s website, and referred to in their publications, and can help to inform the Law Society’s work in other reviews.
What happens next?
The feedback received on the Second Issues paper will inform the recommendations the Law Commission will make in their Final Report, due to the Minister of Justice in 2025.
We’ll be keeping you informed on this important mahi and sharing updates as we find out more.
For more information on the Law Commission’s review, visit https://huarahi-whakatau.lawcom.govt.nz/.